Road To UFC Results & Scorecards | Season 3 Semifinals

The former Dana White’s Contender Series contestant Yan was the more effective of the two in the opening stanza, using her superior physicality to get the better of the exchanges with her Irish foe, who typically competes at strawweight. But after running level in the second, McCormack took the fight to Yan in the third, battling through a gnarly cut that was leaking crimson all over the canvas to nearly secure a finish.

When the scores were added up, it was McCormack that came away with the unanimous decision victory, securing her fourth consecutive victory. The SBG Ireland representative called for a contract and after the way she finished the fight on Friday night, she just might get her wish.

After an opening round where neither man landed much effective offense, Sahota started using his considerable reach advantage more in the second, drawing away from Panales and threatening with an armbar at the horn. In the third, the British competitor continued to land the better shots, allowing him to distance himself from his Filipino counterpart.

The judges were called upon to determine a victor, and all three had the fight for Sahota, who moved to 12-2 with the win and claimed his spot in the finals, where he’ll face the winner of the bout between Dong Horn Choi and Angad Bishit.

Each man had positive moments in each round, but You was slightly more effective of the two, leaning into his grappling to drag Zhawupasi to the canvas. While the 24-year-old Chinese fighter landed the better individual strikes, but couldn’t connect at a high enough clip or with big enough shots to truly shift the momentum entirely in his favor.

For the third consecutive fight, the judges were called upon to determine a winner, but this time, they were split in how they saw things, awarding You the split decision win. The victory sends the 28-year-old from South Korea through to the finals in Macau in November.

Bisht started exceptionally well, cracking Choi with a right hand that caused his nose to instantly begin leaking claret. But the South Korean wore it well and returned the favor in the second, sitting down his Indian foe before collecting another knockdown in the waning moments of the final frame.

This was an ultra-competitive bout over the final two rounds, with the judges once again tasked with determining the victor. When the tens and nines were tallied, it was Choi that landed on the happy side of the split decision verdict, maintaining his unbeaten record and moving forward to the finals in Macau later this year.

Jieleyisi cracked his Japanese opponent right out of the chute, but spent the majority of the opening round on the wrong end of the grappling entanglements. But after keeping things standing for the majority of the second round, Jieleyisi turned to his grappling to ground and neutralize Nakanishi.

All three judges saw the fight the same, awarding Jieleyisi the unanimous decision win and a trip to the bantamweight finale, where he’ll square off with SuYoung You in Macau in November.

This was a grappling-heavy affair between a pair of fighters that took the bout on relatively short notice. Murodov was the more effective of the two over the course of the fight, showing a little more urgency when in control positions to fire off strikes and hunt for submission openings, shutting down any attacks Piersma offered.

Still just 24 years old, Tajikistan’s Murodov is now 11-0 as a professional and remains a name to track going forward. He’s shown promise in a pair of RTU appearances, and could join the growing list of Tajik fighters on the UFC roster in the not too distant future.

Using her length advantage and superior striking, Feng battered the lead leg of Motono throughout, backing it up with long punches while dealing with the takedown attempts from her Japanese foe with ease. While she was forced to gut out a last ditch mounted guillotine attempt from Motono, the rangy Chinese fighter was in complete control for the vast majority of the contest, earning the unanimous decision win.

Just 22 years old, Feng has now earned eight consecutive victories and is one more win away from securing the opportunity to compete inside the UFC Octagon. Regardless of how things go later this year in Macau, Feng is clearly a talented prospect with a bright future.

Kanjie was the superior striker in space and landed quality attacks when defending along the fence as well, while Haraguchi utilized his smothering, unrelenting grappling attack to wear down the Chinese finisher. After basically running level over the first two rounds, Haraguchi turned in the most clear frame of the fight in the third, grinding out the final five minutes.

When the tens and nines were added up, it was Kanjie that landed on the happy side of the scores, advancing to the featherweight finals in Macau later this year. Now riding a four-fight winning streak and sporting a 20-4 record overall, the 28-year-old will look to join his teammate and chief corner on Friday night, Rongzhu, in earning a Road to UFC tournament victory.

The Chinese athletes ran relatively level throughout the entire fight, neither women ever reaching a point where they dominated the other. Instead, this was an entertaining “give and take” where each competitor had moments in all three rounds, leaving the outcome unknown when the final horn sounded.

The judges were split in how they saw the contest, with two seeing the fight 29-28 in favor of Shi, while the other had all three rounds from Dong. By landing on the happy side of the verdict, Shi advances to the finale, where she’ll face off with Feng Xiaocan in Macau in November.

Xie actually got dropped himself in the early moments of the contest, catching an overhand right that put him on the canvas. But he steadied himself and cleared the cobwebs before putting a right hand on the jaw of Kawana that sent him collapsing forward to all fours. As he rose to his feet, Xie launched another right hand that found the mark and sent the Japanese fighter crashing backwards to the canvas.

Just a stunning finish for the 26-year-old “Stalker,” who came up short on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 and lost in the opening round of the first Road to UFC tournament in 2022. Now, he’ll face off with Zhu Kanjie in Macau for the opportunity to land a place on the UFC roster.